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:lol: Yeah, isn't it great having a bit of a "hostile resting face" - people think I'm pissed off about something even when I think I'm smiling :) so they pretty much leave me alone. It does work in my favour though, when customers realise I'm not the bad bastard I appear to be, they want to be my friend!Quote:
Originally Posted by Marco
Lol... Yups, quite handy for poker, too! And *that's* poker the card game;)
Marco.
https://www.change.org/p/boris-johns...sk&utm_term=cs
Sign the above petition to remove the pee-soaked, corpulent, chinless-wonder old duffers, who have ZERO concern for the best interests of the common man, only lining their (already rich) pockets with an unjust and obscene TAX-FREE daily sum, which many people don't earn in a month, for doing next to fuck all but drain the bar dry of sweet sherry! :doh::punch:
Let's dismantle this elitist and out of touch 'old-boys network' from the House of Commons, full of Boris' upper-class twits, and replace it with something that gives more POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!
If you want that to happen, then SIGN THE PETITION - and *MAKE* IT HAPPEN!!!
Marco.
Oddly enough the HoL has acted as a brake and a deterrent to some of the more authoritarian policies of previous Conservative and indeed Labour governments. They can do this precisely because they are unelected and therefore don't have to worry about being de-selected by their constituencies or having the whip withdrawn. An elected upper house would scupper that. Consequently I won't be signing the petition.
Although I agree that there is far too much freeloading, fact is that goes on in the elected house too, and across all of the parties. A written constitution could prevent that but there's no chance of that ever happening as turkeys don't vote for Christmas.
Whilst I agree that the HoL is full of largely useless hereditary peers (who fortunately rarely attend), as well as those that have been appointed through nepotism and cronyism, a second House is essential to democracy for reasons Martin states.
The problem is all of the members are unelected. So an alternative might be for one third of the members be chosen for 're-election' by the public every five years, and for their tenure to last for 15 years. After five years a second tranche of members would be chosen for re-election. I think the duration of tenure needs to be longer than 5 years to allow the second house to do its job properly. The election to the HoL would be separate from, and not coincidental with the election of MPs to the Commons.
I also think the membership of the HoL, at over 800, is far too large. It needs pruning. In fact the whole honours system needs revision as it it is rapidly becoming a bit of a joke.
But like the institution of a consitutional monarchy, it and the HoL 'works', despite the glaring inequalities.
Blimey! That was one bloody huge explosion in Beirut today. On the various videos, the devastation looks enormous and the shock wave also seen in the video was massive. Goodness knows what caused it. There'll be many more casualties yet I think.
Video in these reports:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93tV6-0Ugwk
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...buildings.html
No report yet, but I'm betting it was fireworks. If you look carefully at one of the videos, there are many tiny flashes before the big bang, suggesting small ignitions.
.
Saw that. They are also saying it might have been a massive cache of weapons and ammo.
Obviously not Standard Fireworks, because they were shit. Especially "flower pots", which never failed to disappoint.Quote:
Originally Posted by walpurgis
Soz for the late reply - been busy elsewhere!:)
Sure, and I get that, but it'd still be more beneficial to the interests of ordinary people, if members of the HoL weren't all upper-class 'hoity-toities', and instead was populated by people who were more grounded and in touch with the real world.Quote:
Originally Posted by Macca
Chances are, because they're 'posh types', that even though they can put a brake on authoritarian government policies, they'll most likely still have Tory leanings, especially if some of them are friends of Boris Johnson, or any other leading members of the Tory party.
Therefore, in order to be most effective in their 'spoiling' role, they should instead be working class/ordinary folks, and therefore more inclined to oppose Tory policies.
What's disgraceful and should be abolished, is anyone being given preferential treatment or 'favours', as a result of having 'friends or relations in high places'. No matter how you dress it up, that's corruption, pure and simple, and therefore has no place in the fairer and more just society we should all be striving for.
Indeed, and that's what pisses me off. That shit should be totally eradicated, and the vote for such instead put into the hands of the British people, not the privileged elite!Quote:
Although I agree that there is far too much freeloading, fact is that goes on in the elected house too, and across all of the parties. A written constitution could prevent that but there's no chance of that ever happening as turkeys don't vote for Christmas.
Marco.
Indeed, and along with the "freeloading" Martin has mentioned, the SHITE highlighted above [which makes me SEETHE like you wouldn't believe:steam:] should be obliterated from the face of British politics, along with the current and grossly outdated 'old-boys network' in the House of Lords!Quote:
Originally Posted by Barry
Instead, it should be replaced with a fairer and more just system that gives ordinary people a chance to be represented, and prioritise what's best for the common man [i.e. the vast majority of the UK population], not simply a select and privileged few.
There's WAY too much stuffy elitism and inequality in British politics, and also in the existence of our monarchy, which incidentally I'd also seek to dismantle and abolish, as it's a similarly grossly outdated institution, and IMO no longer moral or relevant in the modern world, especially with the existence of such worldwide poverty.
Yup, totally agree. So how do we, the people, bring about that change, and with it, fight for a fairer and more equal society for Britain?Quote:
The problem is all of the members are unelected. So an alternative might be for one third of the members be chosen for 're-election' by the public every five years, and for their tenure to last for 15 years. After five years a second tranche of members would be chosen for re-election. I think the duration of tenure needs to be longer than 5 years to allow the second house to do its job properly. The election to the HoL would be separate from, and not coincidental with the election of MPs to the Commons.
Marco.